Mexican Inn

-Grubbing in Chicago
Where the locals eat.

Were going back to the eastside of Chi to the Mexican Inn, a staple of the area, its been at the corner of 95th and Ewing along the Lake Michigan Circle tour route since 1961 and owned by the same family since then too. This is a spot I have been intrigued with since my high school days of going to Michigan City and taking US Route 12/20 and passing by this locals favorite that always caught my eye with its past era looks. A food friend of mine from LTH who knows more about southside Chicago and its food history than everyone else combined said the place is "a culinary museum, dishing up food exactly like they served in the '60s and '70s" and that's exactly how it looks from the outside when cruising by. I cant verify it but I've also heard that this might be Chicago's longest running Mexican restaurant which is impressive since we have as many as anyplace outside Mexico. I stopped in a while back to the triangular building to finally knock this spot off my list and I am glad to bring it back to my readers.


a locals favorite in Hegewisch/Eastside of Chicago

When I stopped in here with another buddy of mine we got the same feeling the outside gives you upon walking inside. It feels like stepping back into time with the classic Tex-Mex cafeteria feeling to it. Its hard to believe that Mexican food didn't really become popular in the US until the 60's and even then the food we called Mexican was more like Tex-Mex and yes there is a difference and both are very good in they're own right. Since then we have seen not just Mexican food like tacos and tortas pop up all over but been lucky enough to have all sorts of selection with different regional variations served at different restaurants throughout Chicagoland. Today however we visit one of Chicago's old school Mexican joints that very much has that Tex-Mex flare in both the menu and ambiance. You wont find anything you've never seen or eaten before on it's menu but that doesn't mean its not worth a mention.


Inside the Inn

I've mentioned it on here before but I'll say it again in case your not familiar with the neighborhood Mexican In is located in, it is very old school and one of the few neighborhoods in Chicago that feels like not much has changed. This goes for both the houses and businesses as well as other things that make the eastside a place I enjoy going to. We visited the Inn around 430p one evening and when we entered we were the only two people in there under 30. There was nobody in the 31-59 age range and everyone else was over 60 most eating dinner. Like I said about the neighborhood, not much has changed including the people, lots of old timers. Like any good sitdown Mexican joint your a started with chips and salsa on the house as you are given your menus. The salsas arent pictured but were what you would expect them to be like back in the 60's. They are housemade and I enjoyed them and so do regulars who buy containers to go. The menu has expanded over the years but we were there for the Tex-Mex like menu items for the most part and that's what we were going to order. Here is a rundown of our meal, eat by eat.


Steak tacos

^We started out by ordering two steak tacos with the traditional condiments of onion and cilantro on its customary corn tortilla just to compare what those were like to other authentic Mexican taquerias around town. While they weren't awful they were nothing special. Steak was made on a griddle as opposed to the favored way of a grill and not something I'd get again.


Shredded beef taco with lettuce, tomato on flour tortilla

^I enjoyed these tacos which are regularly made by mothers all throughout Texas and other places where AmeriMex is popular. Pretty typical with its toppings and flavor and served on a flour tortilla which is the more common used tortilla in Tex-Mex recipes. While they weren't order yourself a few more good they were homey and the taste came without the slaving and cooking in the kitchen.


Crispy hard shell ground beef tacos

^My favorite item of the visit. Another Tex-Mex staple you just cant find these many places anymore and the spots that do have them use those awful store bought hard shells and are too lazy to fry them fresh. Sure just like the taco above its a simple recipe and the ground beef could be seasoned up a notch but the combination of the beef with the lettuce, tomato and cheese on a fresh fried hard shell taco does it for me. Yes they're easy to make at home but I would eat these there too just like the locals do if I lived in the area.


Tamales with gravy

^Once again we have a menu item that's more Tex-Mex than Mexican. Yes tamales are Mexican and made everywhere in Mexico, these tamales were made like those served at Tex-Mex joints and made with a corn meal batter and had a thin and almost crumbly outer layer. I'm not an exert in real Tex-Mex from Texas but I do make alot of recipes using Robb Walsh's Tex-Mex cookbook which is legit as it gets. I liked these but thought the gravy could have been better. Again it wasn't seasoned enough and blander than I like but also again they weren't bad.


Ground Beef enchiladas

^Well, well once again we have a popular item in Tex-Mex cuisine. Although enchiladas are eaten in various parts of Mexico the style of Mexican Inn's version was in the style of enchiladas I would put in the Tex-Mex category. The gravy was pretty much the same stuff they used on the tamales so they didn't wow me but they were eaten.


Soft Cheese (tortilla w/ choice of filling topped with their special cheese sauce)

^I thought these were interesting, I wouldn't have them again but then again I didn't grow up on these since I'm not from the area. The family that owns Mexican Inn is from Mexico but when they opened the restaurant it was these type of dishes Americans recognized as Mexican and were going crazy for so most of these items were on the original menu and are not what most Mexicans eat. As time has gone by and Chicago has seen its Mexican population rise they have been able to add more authentic items they make for family dinners to the menu but have kept the original ones and the original customers have kept coming back. The family travels back to Mexico each year so the place is closed from January thru March. I love it for its character as much as anything. There arent many places like this that have survived time. If you ever drive by the triangular building and see the "Mexican Inn" neon, stop in for a hard shell taco or two.


It might not all be authentic Mexican but its a real locals type spot

Mexican Inn
9510 South Ewing Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60617
(773) 734-8957

T's Tap

-Got beef?
The Burgers of Chi

Today we head south along Lake Michigan towards Indiana and also the state of Michigan. The Eastside of Chicago and the Hegeswisch neighborhood is a place we've been to before here on S'C'&C but never before to a local tavern, specifically-T's Tap- located at 98th and Ewing right along route 41 and the Lake Michigan circle tour. I've passed T's countless times over the years and was always intrigued by the "homemade sandwiches" text on the sign. Since T is also one of my nicknames, I always said I'd stop into my place one day. That along with the fact its an old school corner bar, in what I believe to be the only neighborhood in the city to see very little change these past couple decades, made it time to visit and so I did last January.


a popular Eastside Chicago hangout

When you scope out T's from the outside, it doesn't tell you much, just a bar in the bottom floor of another old brick building located at the corner of 98th & Ewing. But upon entry you step into a little bit of a time warp. My friend with me commented on how much he felt like he was in St. Louis as we sat down at the bar to get some drinks. It was a Saturday afternoon and the bar had a bunch of regulars sitting at it from ages 25-65 and there was also a bachelorette party with quite a few girls getting rowdy around 4p to Kid Rock's "all summer long". To give it some more of that old school tavern feel they also serve free popcorn in an old popcorn making machine and they have all your lotto needs covered from scratch cards to the big game, you can play it all inside here while you have a drink or five.


a little video peak into the tap

I very much enjoyed my visit to T's. Even though we weren't recognized by anyone in there the bachlorette party and bartenders were really friendly and couldn't believe I came there from Lincoln Park. At some point in time, T's was ranked one of the Top 15 bars in Chicago by the Chicago Tribune. After one visit I am ready to agree with this call. Chicago doesn't have too many places left like this anymore.


Front of the menu (click pic to enhance)

Aside from cheap drinks you will also find a menu filled with food of the greasy variety. They have a deep fryer and a grill in the front and the menu consists of the typical things you would throw in a fryer along with fresh grilled burgers, pork chop sammy's, Italian beef etc...We went with both a burger and a Patty melt (1st thing listed on the menu) along with an order of chicken wings. T's also has a specialty drink called the Pink thing and plenty of other thirst quenchers.


T's Tap fried chicken wings

Not bad at all for a small little neighborhood shack. The patty melt, although we got it with American cheese, was awesome. I got a patty melt for the 1st time in a while at Top Notch a few months back and forgot how much I like them. The patty melt at T's was damn good and when you consider the monster 1/2 pound melt is only $4.25, its a bargain. The burger was also good and both sandwiches were made by the potent yet excellent batch of grilled onions served on them. We also got an order of wings which were decent. They came fried nicely and they give you a huge bottle of sauce to douse them on your own with. If you go and are tempted by the pizza, don't be, its just Tombstone.


T's Tap Cheeseburger


T's Tap Patty Melt

I loved my first visit to T's and plan on heading back there this summer as I scoot back and forth between Chicago and Indiana/Michigan. If your ever taking the lake up or back and become hungry and want to catch a game on the tv, stop on by at T's, they'll treat ya like you been a regular for 30+ years.


a fine version indeed

T's Tap
9801 South Ewing Avenue
Chicago, IL 60617-5564
(773) 221-3111

Pupuseria El Salvador

Central American in Chi
-El Salvador

Its almost spring and before you know it, summer will be here. So to start this marathon of must stop eating spots that I will bring to you as the days go by and summer turns to fall, we'll also introduce a new series-Central American in Chicago. Its the part of the globe that separates North from South America and consists of seven different countries, all of which have restaurants with their respective cuisines available around Chicagoland. Our first visit in this series is to Pupuseria El Salvador, one of my favorite eating stops in Chicago. The number of Salvadoran restaurants in Chicago is pretty good and they all have similar menus and they all serve pupusas. The thick masa harina cakes are stuffed with cheese and or meats and are popular throughout Central America but particularly so in El Salvador. If you don't think you'll be making it there anytime soon then you need to head to the Eastside and one of my favorite neighborhoods in Chicago-Hegewisch. Its here where the treasure that is Pupuseria El Salvador resides over on east 106th street. Lets check out this super (mostly) unknown.


In Chicago's Hegewisch neighborhood

Just like all the other spots in the neighborhood Pupuseria El Salvador is in an old building. In fact its in the basement of an apartment building at the corner of 106th and Avenue L. Its a small spot that you step down some stairs into and open the door as if you were going over to somebody's house for lunch. When you get inside there are maybe three or four tables and a kitchen that takes up the rest of the area. There is a small TV with some Spanish language stuff on and a payphone as well. I know, I don't even see payphones at 7/11 or gas stations anymore.


View from our table, to the left not in the picture is the open kitchen

When me and my boy went in there we were greeted by a guy watching the tele and reading a newspaper. The menu is simple but has most of the countries standards including typical Salvadoran breakfast served 'til 10:30a. The guy behind the counter in the kitchen was really helpful and took our order and gave us a couple of bottles of Kolashanpan when I told him I wanted what the locals drink in El Salvador. Its an apple/bubble gum tasting pop that tasted so familiar I'm sure many different Caribbean and South American sodas taste the same. Since it reminded me so much of something from my youth I was an instant fan. When I looked this stuff up on google my first result was this guys site who is on a lifelong quest to find some here in the states. Yo guy! I got you covered. We took our seats with our bottles of pop and sat down at a table where each one has a red and green hot sauce bottle and a large jar of very tasty and refreshing curtido, a pickled cabbage salad with strong notes of vinegar and peppers in the housemade version. The stuff goes great with everything.


The hot green salsa, Kolashanpan and the mild red salsa


Curtido (Salvadoran cabbage salad) goes great with pupusas

The man running the show was nice as could be and brought us the food as it was ready. I knew it was going to be great when after we put in our order he yelled in the backroom and out came an older lady who got down to business making the pupusas and the rest of the goodies and I do mean goodies. It was obvious that this lady making the pupusas had made 100o's and 1000's in her lifetime. Its a pretty simple recipe but one of those things that some people just got a niche for, like Salvadoran grandmas for instance. I was here about a month ago and its the best lunch I have had this year so far. With warm weather around the corner I cant think of a better place to rec on a nice spring day for lunch. Its a quick drive down Lakshore Drive. You get a scenic route and an amazing lunch all in an afternoons swoop. Here's what we ate.


Salvadoran Platanos with housemade crema

^These plantains were cooked perfectly and must of been sugar coated because they were sweetly addicting and perfectly caramelized as you can see in the pic above. But what put them over the top as some of the best fried plantains I've had was the homemade crema that we ordered them with them. The crema worked great with everything but really well with these.


Salvadoran Tamale

^If your a regular reader you know I'm a tamale guy and I love to try the regional variations of them. I was happy to try my first Salvadoran tamale which was another winner. Still haven't found any tamales I don't enjoy. The masa on these was looser than a Mexican tamale and on the insides were chicken, potato, carrot and other veggies made a nice flavor combo.

Salvadoran Pupusa's


A Plate of Pupusas, El Salvador's favorite street food

If your Pupuseria El Salvador and I'm dining at your place, I'm eating pupusas. On the outside of the building is a banner advertising the popular handmade corn pancake like treats that are stuffed with meats, veggies and cheese. At $1.25 each they are a steal and you always order a few. In El Salvador pupusas are also basically their version of tortillas but with filling. These insanely addicting snacks are made fresh to order by the ladies who work the kitchen and they have perfected the art of doing them. Items available inside the pupusas are zucchini, cheese, refried beans and refried pork meat. Also available is the granddaddy of them all refried pork, beans and cheese. According to the thesaurus the words for these are delectable, divine, delicious, luscious and so on. You gotta love how the cheese oozes out of the side and gets burnt and turns crispy on the cheese filled ones too.


Zucchini Pupusa


Cheese Pupusa


The insides of a refried pork meat, beans and cheese pupusa

I had heard about this place from some knowledgeable peops in the food game and they had said good things about the housemade chorizo. In case you were wondering, there's not much that isn't made in the little kitchen there. El Salvadoran chorizo is different from Mexican and more like the Spanish version. The links are tied off with corn husks and there is a chili presence along with some other amazing flavors that make one hell of a flavor combo for sausage. They were served on top of a Salvadoran tortilla which as mentioned above is a pupusa with no fillings.


Pupuseria El Salvador's housemade chorizo links


Salvadoran Tortilla


Get in me belly!

To finish out our meal we ordered what is basically the best desert item I have had in sometime. I'm not big on sweets but I know anyone would love the platano frito o crema. This was simply divine and I'm starting to realize that I say I'm not big on sweets alot but always seem to enjoy them. Well now I wont be able to like much else because these were oh so special. Its a ball of plantain dough filled with crema then fried and dusted in sugar. You see what I'm saying?


Salvadoran desert-Plaintain dough filled with crema then fried and sugar coated

This is a spot that was on my "to get to" list for a very long time and that's a damn shame. I'm really glad I finally made it here because its in my city favorites already as you can see. I have 100's of spots waiting to be posted about on here and this place jumped alot of them. I'm not sure how business is but we were the only people in there during our visit and I didn't like that, it was so good and cheap too. I hope they can stick around for a long time and encourage anyone who thinks this place looks great to get on over. The two of us there ate as much as we could (alot) and each had a drink and left a $2 tip and walked out spending $24. If I had to compile a spot of ten places that are my favorite (very hard to do) I don't see this place not making that list. Get at it.


Hot Damn!

Pupuseria El Salvador
3557 E 106th St
Chicago, IL 60617
773-374-0490

Hamony Hamburgers

-Got beef?
The Burgers of Chi

The East Side of Chicago has to be the section of Chicago most stuck in time and thats a good thing. Located on the south side of the city between the Calumet river and the Illinois-Indiana state line not much has changed thru the years over there. Its the best neighborhood to get a feel of what Chicago was like way back in the day before redevelopment. Until recently the area was economically dominated by the river and the once thriving Port of Chicago. Most of the houses are the unique to Chicago bungalow style and most buildings were built pre-1920 and many of the businesses have been around for quite a while as well.

After the great Chicago fire of 1871, Joseph Schlitz donated thousands of barrels of beer to the city and decided to open a national distribution point in the city that would begin the Schlitz brewery expansion. The German immigrant who came to Milwaukee Wisconsin at 20 years old in 1820 built dozens of tied-houses in Chicago after the fire in 1871 and all had a concrete relief of the company logo embedded in the brickwork. Several of these Tied-House buildings survive today and there are a few located on the East Side giving you that old school feel as you drive by. Many of the neighborhoods settlers were people of Croatian and Serbian descent who had emigrated from Europe to take jobs in the steel mills and related work. After the unionization, the neighborhood became a stronghold for the Chicago democratic party machine of mayor Richard J. Daley. Today the area is still heavily populated by Hispanic, Serbian, Croatian and Polish people.


Schlitz' stamp on the old tied-houses around the city can be...


...found around Chicago and Wisconsin (Southport lanes in Lincoln Park)


Eastside Tied-House in Chicago (Photo: forgottenchicago.com)

Along 106th St. in the East Side neighborhood there are still several old business that have been family owned for a long time but none have been under the same ownership for a longer running period than Harmony Hamburgers. Its your basic old school Chicago style grease grill thats been doing it the same way since they first opened doors in the early 1950's. Owned by a lady who's son has a law practice around the corner its a restaurant thats truly all in the family. There is very little information on this fascinating old school burger shop on the internet but over at LTHforum.com there is a small mention of it in a thread about another place. The post is from 2005 and reads "BTW, was reading some paper while there waiting for my tacos the last time, and it mentioned "Harmony Hamburgers" on 106th, apparently been in existence since 1953 or some such, 79 year old woman running it and currently being helped (over summer) by 10-12 yr old grandkids etc. Ever tried it? Any good?"


106th streets oldest business in the East side neighborhood

One member of the food board who is the Columbus of south side food exploration had stopped in for the first time in years circa 2005 and said "Nothing has changed, in fact I doubt much has changed in 50 years." The family has a longstanding history in the neighborhood and the walls are covered with photos of family members with people ranging from Hillary Clinton to Mayor Daley to Digger Phelps with a definite Notre Dame presence. I think the owners son went to college or law school at ND. There are a few game machines with prizes for the kids to play as well as an original Donkey Kong arcade game to the right as you enter. On my first visit this past weekend I got the same feeling that was felt above, the place hadn't changed in years it looked and felt like a classic Chicago fast food neighborhood joint. I visited on a Saturday and the description above of it being all in the family was spot on to this day. The mother/grandma was there keeping up shop with her son the lawyer and his daughter (her granddaughter) a young girl, maybe 7 or 8, who was taking care of the tables and delivered us our tasty burgers with a cute little smile on her face. There were also a few neighborhood kids who rode their bikes over for lunch, some regulars as well as the employees who all seem to have been there a substantial amount of time as well. Everyone was enjoying their Saturday afternoon and everyone knew each other it felt like real Chicago.


View upon entering with the kids games to the right

When I first caught eye of this place a few weeks back I knew I was going to have to stop in and try a burger in the near future. I imagined that by the looks from the outside that they made a good old fashioned burger the same fashion since the day they opened and like usual I was right. It was a basic fresh thin patty griddle cooked and topped with potent grilled onions and perfectly melted cheese on a sesame seed bun. I went with a double cheese with my preferred toppings of mustard, onions and pickles (I don't do ketchup on anything) that included fries and at $3.49 it was everything you could expect it to be. It was a perfect rendition of an old school cafeteria style burger but done right. Although I wasn't hungover I could tell that this place was a popular stop for locals who had been out late enjoying the previous night. As far as the taste goes I bet it hasn't changed since the day they opened and thats why its such a satisfying burger. It reminded of a place thats long gone that I ate at growing up in Lincoln Park called Glenn's Hamburgers on Fullerton just east of Ashland. Nothing fancy about this place just a good greasy burger that taste like burgers used to back in the 1950's or so I'm told. I'm only 27 years old but I can taste the history and harmony put into these babies. They were very pleasing on the taste palate. I'm glad to have this place on my radar and you should put it on yours. Its a great stop for lunch on a trip up to the Michigan City/Michigan area during summertime fun for us FIB's.


Double cheese with mustard, onions and pickles from Harmony

Overall Grade: B+

Strengths: The Chicago history behind the burger stand and the people that run it in the historic neighborhood is enough to make it destination dining alone. The fact that the burger tastes like its stuck in time is a huge plus. Brings back memories of the burgers you ate growing up, the places that are becoming more and more a rare breed in the days of McDonald's and other bad burger franchises that are popping up everywhere.

Weakness': I cant find a single bad thing to say about this landmark burger establishment. The only way you wont like it is if you prefer to go to a squeaky clean place that was built post 2000 like Culvers or Steak & Shake. Not to take away from the burger spots that somewhat try to do it right but Harmony hamburgers is what the original Culver's and Steak & Shakes were like. They just haven't changed since day one. The Great Burgerelli is getting beat down in reviews of burgers in this town. Keep trying though.

Harmony Hamburgers
3643 E 106th St
Chicago, IL
773-731-4615
Closed Sunday